Trana Mathews

Dr. Increase Trana Mathews

These early Americans were fundamental to the expansion of the United States after the Revolutionary War. Based upon a diary transcript and known facts, Dr. Increase is the sequel to The Mathews Family and the second novel in the Mathews Family Saga.

When Increase finished his medical apprenticeship, two physicians had already established practices in New Braintree, Massachusetts. Increase has always dreamt of owning land but now can't save money for a future purchase. He wants to marry but doesn't have the means to support a family. Some of his relatives have settled in the Ohio frontier, so he decides to travel to the Northwest Territory in 1798 to visit them and to view its opportunities.

Dr. Increase Mathews recorded his thoughts in a journal, noting mileage and expenses along with people, places, and complications encountered. It was not an easy trip. Traveling hundreds of miles by horseback took weeks to accomplish, and a companion's mare is injured traversing a difficult mountain trail. This 18th century man's actual words provide a remarkable insight on this period of early American history.